Thirty Days
by Varahkas
Summary: This is a loyal novelization of the adventures of Olimar in his first eventful trip to the Distant Planet. It will be a passionate attempt at fleshing out and revitalizing the epic tale of survival and overall convey what Pikmin was to us Pikmin fans. Pikmin is owned by Nintendo. Rated T for violence and disturbing imagery. All type of feedback is greatly appreciated!
1. Day 0

"Veering 3.6/2.8 Degrees off course," The nasal computer voice cackled to me.

"Blasted stabilizer," I cursed. I gently eased the steering wheel to adjust my space-ship, the S.S. Dolphin, back on course. One of the Omega Stabilizers of my ship was busted and kept steering me off-course. I grabbed a cool canister of vitamin-enhanced water and took several sips, calming myself. I hated flaws. Even the smallest, most discrete errors can drive me insane like that one spot on your back that you can never seem to reach when it itches. I however, always keep a back-scratcher handy, so such has yet to be a problem to me. But moving on.

I took a quick glance at my radar and several other gauges and meters to make sure everything was as it should be. Neatness soothes my nerves, though I should've loosened up, especially since I was off on sabbatical. If my family were with me, they would certainly not have approved of me being so nit-picky during a vacation.

Well, I suppose I should introduce myself. My name is Olimar. Captain Olimar if you will. I am from the planet of Hocotate, and work for the renowned Hocotate Freight, a powerful shipping company. After working for several years as employee of the month and Chief-Executive Delivery-man under the iron fist of my dictator-of-a-boss, my family demanded- er, requested a vacation for myself.

The labor laws of Hocotate note that any who works for as long and as hard as me are allowed a week-long vacation, so the Company President had no choice but to allow me such a luxury. And now I was off to a tropical planet that was a popular get-away for overworked and over-stressed people such as myself. But to tell the truth, I almost don't want to go. I lost myself gazing into the starry abyss of space. I love the natural beauty we see in nature. I actually love to lose myself on deliveries and road-trips with the family. A night spent stargazing was much "cooler", as the kids say, than a night spent organizing my book collection.

I began to find and name different constellations, and even make up some of my own. I also have two constellations named after my son and daughter. I always recognize those first.

Several long, complicated names of constellations and stars consumed my mind, which was usually out of character for me. I normally never let anything but organization and work consume my brain. But the natural world just does it for me. Ah. Sweet bliss.

I was almost unaware of the warning siren blaring from my Guard Satellite. I looked to my control panel and heard the computer mention an "oncoming asteroid cluster." I felt myself slowly sliding off my seat. I tried to scoot back up, but my descent continued. I flailed my arms to save myself, but I fell directly on the thrust switch and managed to jam the handle into high speed.

Brilliant. Just Brilliant.

The Dolphin made a sudden lurch forward, and began to rapidly pick up speed. The Engine Room was roaring behind me, and my Guard Alarm was blasting a loud, irritating siren. I put on my helmet as a safety precaution to keep my head from shattering against something and attempted to clamber to my seat, which was made much harder than normal, as the Dolphin was gaining velocity.

I reached my hands out and met the steering wheel, which I firmly grasped. I made fast and instinctive swerves in between the asteroids, panicked and frightened. I tried to slow the thrust, but it was firmly jammed into it's position. And during that split-second I looked away, a large meteor must have collided with my dear ship, just inches from my cockpit. I blacked out after that.


	2. Day 1

**...Phew. Welp, where to start? I started this lord knows how many years ago, back when Pikmin was the coolest thing for me (Don't get me wrong, I couldn't be _more _hyped for Pikmin 3). I eventually tired of this project after accepting the fact that I would _never _be completely happy, since I seem to always be improving, and desire nothing less than perfection in my stories. So I was left with a "complete" Day 1 and a half-started Day 2. Years later, after starting and never completing a myriad of my own original stories, I stumbled back over this story. I've been trying to convince myself to reboot this project for months, as it takes up a special place in my heart. It's the first project I felt somewhat obligated to stick to, despite that I definitely did _not_ do that. My final conclusion is that I definitely _will _be completing Thirty Days. I've set up a schedule in which I will have writing time every weekday, so expect more frequent (relative to three year) updates. Sorry to have kept all of you that have been loyally watching waiting. I promise not to disappear again. Expect a large improvement in my writing, as that can tend to happen over three years. However, Day One was written shortly after Day Zero, so the writing is still _meh_. But for now, enjoy! Working on Day Two as you read!**

**Day One**

"Ohhhh…" I awoke with long groan. My eyes creaked open like they were solid lead. A great light blared in my visor, blinding me. I could scarcely make out my surroundings. Apparently, I was inside some unlit room, which also seemed to be upside down, as I could feel a large reservoir of blood in my head. A large, metal object pinned me to my seat, which was attached to the ceiling, in a most uncomfortable manner. My memory ran blank. I had no recollection as to how I ended up in this predicament.

"No," I thought grimly, "My _ship_!" I squirmed around, trying to get myself out of my dented cockpit. I clearly wasn't floating through the vacuum of space, my ship must have landed. But where? I pressed the "open" button on my control panel, but there was no response. I tried once more, but still nothing. I grabbed my handy-bar and used it to pry the cockpit window open. I tumbled out and landed on my rear ungracefully outside of the Dolphin. The ground was soft porous, but I was too concerned with my ship to notice my surroundings.

I quickly turned to see the tragic state of my poor ship.

It was the most horrific sight I had ever laid eyes upon. The Dolphin jutted out of the charred crater it sat in like a colorful blemish. Sparks perpetually sprayed the area around it and several inner mechanisms stuck out of the hull, attempting to run, but to no avail. A continuous stream of smoke flowed up and out of the ship, and several important jets, antennae, hull pieces, and other gadgets were nowhere to be seen. Even the main engine was completely missing from its stationary spot at the bottom of my ship. I then remembered my eventful collision with that large meteorite.

_Superb. _

As I had suffered crash landings before, I would not have been normally worried. However, this time the Dolphin had been near shredded into tiny metal pieces. My orderly, civilized mind kicked and told me to inspect and list what was missing from my shipwreck, but I noticed the bright flora I was stepping on. I completely forgot my situation as I looked around and found one of the most beautiful places I had ever seen.

I was in the middle of an absolutely _enormous_ forest. Plants and flowers of the most unimaginable shape were growing in every crack and crevice in the green glade. Bright, blooming blossoms and vines added a colorful flare to the lush woodland. And most of the plant-life was several times my own size. I felt like an insignificant insect next to the building-sized trees and stumps. The Dolphin and I were dwarfed next to the staggering immensity of our alien environment. But I soon discovered yet another dilemma.

Where in the galaxy was I? As a youth, I had always had a deep interest in alien life on other worlds, and nowhere in my studies had I ever heard of planets as rich and full of life as this. Absolutely breath-taken, I took my helmet off to better view the forest, but I was met with an unpleasant surprise.

I took a deep breath, and found myself instantly choking on the air. I gagged and coughed uncontrollably. I fumbled desperately for my helmet and managed to fit it back on quickly. I collapsed onto my knees in shock. My vision was blurred, the world around me felt slower, and I could feel my nose bleeding. I trembled like a frail leaf in an autumn wind. I took several deep breaths to regain my vigor, and pressed a button on my air pack.

"Analyzing air components," it quacked noisily, "Results: 78% nitrogen/21% oxygen/1% carbon-dioxide, water vapor, and argon."

"Oxygen?" I thought, frightened of my situation far more. My species found oxygen as poisonous as carbon monoxide is to others. I was quaking in fear as I pressed a button next to my Atmospheric Analyzer. It stated "Life-Support Systems functional for approximately 30 days."

"Great Gamma," I thought to myself panicked, "_Thirty Days_!?" I stared at the ground in disbelief. I couldn't believe it. I refused to. But it was undeniable. Here I was, ship-wrecked, on an unknown, alien world with high amounts of poisonous gas, with only a month's worth of air and no means of communication to others. I was absolutely hysterical. What was I going to do? Find all of the missing parts? I didn't know where they had landed, or even where I had. And my family! Would I ever see them again? My beautiful wife and children, what would they do without me? My children were so young and I was the only source of income, and my wife couldn't get a job and run the house. What will happen…? No, no, no, what _could _happen, not what _will_…

I took several deep breaths. My panic-stricken state would not help me at all. I thought gallantly to myself "No! I must persevere! Whether or not I have any chance of survival, I must try."

I overcame my fears and managed to hobble back to the Dolphin. I clambered around the wreckage, listing all missing pieces. Coincidentally, there was thirty total pieces unaccounted for. Perhaps a simple coincidence or a miracle; I am still unsure to this day.

Sitting down for five or so minutes, I meditated deeply. I needed to rack my brains together and muster up the courage to begin exploring the planet. I needed to find any ship parts I could and somehow repair the Dolphin. I consumed some protein-powder from a dispenser within my suit and set off on my hopeless adventure to repair the Dolphin.

I had barely trekked more than ten yards when the biggest twist in my tale occurred.

I took a few steps over a tall, moss-and-vine-covered boulder. A large, intricate swirl was etched into the ground around the hill. I just noticed this phenomenon when all of a sudden, a large white flower bloomed open at the peak of the hill, right between my feet. Actually, "bloomed" is too slow of a word. "Popped" seemed to better describe the flower's appearance. It was about the size of my head. I studied it carefully, until, oddly enough, it began spinning like a propeller.

I was perplexed by this strange occurrence, and so I attempted to analyze the blossom further. But I was given a great shock when all of a sudden the boulder I stood upon rocketed into the air about thirty feet. I was flung like a rag-doll into a nearby bush, receiving a rather uncomfortable bump on my backside.

I clawed my way out of the shrub and blinked several times in amazement. The "boulder" I was standing on just five seconds ago turned out to be something awfully different. Instead of the hill, there in front of me was a bulb-like plant/machine. It looked like a scarlet red onion propped up by three long, wooden legs. The flower was planted atop it, spinning merrily, and a black and white band wrapped around the circumference of the "onion".

The flower had stopped spinning, and the plant stood there silently. It was slightly taller than my ship (still lodged in the burnt soil around it), and intimidated me a little bit. A ring of red light exited from the bottom of the bulb, coloring the ground an odd pink. I barely had time to react when the Onion, as I grew to call it, spat out a red sphere the size of my fist from the flower. It fluttered down to the soft earth with the aid of green flap jutting from one end and promptly planted itself there.

I stood where I was, trying to digest what just happened. A second later, about thirty-seven different questions popped into my head instantaneously. What was this "Onion"? Where did it come from? How long has it been dormant before I stepped upon it? What was that speck the Onion had spewed out? Could I eat it? I'd list all of my questions if I weren't afraid to bore you.

I had barely looked away for three seconds before the red blob had grown several times its previous size. I watched in amazement as it grew faster. I then saw the shape of a stem sprout from the top of the sphere. On the tip of the stem waved a single, green leaf. "It's a seed!" I realized. This confirmed my suspicion of its edibility. "Though since it is bright red, it may be poisonous," I thought. "But beets are bright red as well." I thought, so I felt fairly safe in consuming it. Watched the plant grow taller and bigger, until it stopped, reaching just below my chest.

Not including its red coloration, it looked exactly like one of my favorite foods. They're native to my home-world Hocotate, and they're called Pikpik Carrots. They look like normal carrots, but they have a long stem with a single large green leaf, just like the strange plant before me. But after I examined the seed closer, it took on some unusual characteristics. The stem seemed to sway without aid of wind, and casted an eerie red glow from the leaf. I was greatly intrigued by this strange enigma. I felt like it was beckoning to me. "Perhaps if I pluck it, I can further examine this organism." I thought.

I walked up to the sprout and firmly grasped the stalk. I bent my knees, and softly tugged the plant. It didn't budge. I bent lower and tried again, but it only moved a few inches. I bent really low, and jerked with all my might. I felt it slowly squeezing out, until it suddenly popped up and out of the hole. It sailed clear over my head, flipping many times, as I fell onto my bruised bum. I heard a cheerful "Whee!" as the seed flew above me. This obviously surprised me.

I quickly swerved around to see it land. Words cannot describe how shocked I was. Standing before me, was a tiny, beet-red person with a long stem and a leaf poking out of its head. Naturally, I yelled in shock and fright, and leaped back. Scurrying away on all fours, I quickly hid behind a short bush.

At first, I didn't want to look at the creature, but I grew more curious, and it won me over. Now taking a closer look through the leaves, I could make out some more details. The short person was almost as tall as me including the long stem as tall as itself. Without it, it stood just under my chest. It had a rather simple look to it with two big eyes and a long, pointy nose like a big toothpick. Otherwise, there was no sign of ears or mouth. It had two stubby arms and two short legs, and a squat body. The whole creature was colored like a bright tomato.

It stared at me curiously, like a child who had seen a massive rocket-ship for the first time. The red plant person looked around the large forest it was surrounded by in a blank stare. It then focused its wide stare right over my head. I instinctively looked at what the plant-person was staring at, and I saw my tall glowing radio antennae. It was a long thin wire with a glowing red light directly at the tip. I looked back at the creature and it still gazed at my light. I stood up, as it didn't look very dangerous. As a matter of fact, it looked rather cute.

I slowly walked up to the red animal/plant and studied it. It looked hypnotized by my bright light, and so I took the opportunity to examine it. I looked it over, intrigued by it's strange design. It looked perfectly capable of most movement I was, but its leaf puzzled me. It waved back and forth without any aid from wind, and seemed similar to any other leaf I've seen before. So was it an animal or plant? I decided to put off answering that question until I found out more.

Lifting its arms up, I examined it further. Its anatomy was remarkably similar to my species. Its body reminded me of a root system in plants. I would have stared at that fascinating creature all day if I hadn't remembered my adventure to find the missing parts of the Dolphin. I reluctantly hurried away from the plant-creature to scout the area for my precious ship parts. I reached the top of a rather shallow hill and peered around the forest. My heart sank. There was practically no way to find anything. I was absolutely on my own without any help whatsoever.

"Perhaps I could get a good vantage from the top of the Dolphin's wreckage," I thought. I turned to trot over to my ship but I bumped into a familiar red person. I jumped a little at how silently it had followed me. (Or maybe I had just been too distracted to hear. Not that it mattered anyways.) I ignored it and proceeded to the smoky wreckage. I glanced at the imposing Onion that had risen up earlier. It gave me a strange feeling in my gut. Not the kind of "need to vomit" sensation, but more of a "something's not right here" feeling.

The Onion seemed to call to me. It asked me, begged me, to do... something. But what it was asking me continued to escape me. I set aside the mysterious event and scrambled up my ship. A few broken wires sprayed sparks at me, occasionally zapping me.

At the top of my ship, (technically the bottom, as my ship landed nose-first into the ground.) I eyed my surroundings like a sentry. Barely two seconds had gone by before I saw the red person hammering away at a helpless flower with its leaf, releasing tiny, high-pitched yelps and squeaks in each strike. The flower stood several times my own size and had snow-white petals. In the center of those petals was a crimson _pellet_, to say. It was about as wide as three of me, and slightly less tall.

I didn't know what to make of this, until the plant/animal had knocked down the flower and moved on to vigorously beat at another flower. And another. And then another. And yet another more. The red creature didn't seem to do anything with the fallen plants; it only moved on to tear down more. I thought that it would proceed to behead every flower in the forest.

Hopping off my ship, I tried to yell at it, but my air-tight helmet often prevented such actions from being noticed by others. I still attempted to get the destructive creature's attention, but my efforts still went unseen. I decided to use my external whistle, which employees could use to obtain on another's attention on planets requiring helmets.

I blew into it with a big gulp of air, and the red creature stopped immediately, comically jumping in fright. It was so absorbed in attacking its "prey", that it hadn't noticed my approach. It turned to me quickly. I don't know what I was thinking, trying to control the ravenous creature. I stared, not have any clue as what to expect. To my surprise, it quickly pranced towards me and looked at me expectantly. I felt like I was with my family's dog.

Apparently, this red-person became my pet, and companion. I didn't mind, though. The only thing that could be worse than being stranded on a toxic, uninhabited planet is being stranded on a toxic, uninhabited planet alone.

I resumed my search for the lost parts.

The whole adventure continued to surprise me, as Pikmin (What I grew to call it, named after my favorite food) ran off and began to hoist up the large, similarly colored pellet when I was just about to start exploring. I was going to call him back, but I was curious as to what Pikmin would do with it.

To my surprise, he carried it over to the Onion, under the red light beam. He looked up at the bottom-side of the Onion, and there an opening stretched open, and from that three thin tentacles reached out and clutched the pellet. They pulled it into the Onion, and it was apparently consumed. The Onion began to stir, and make whirring noises. And before my very eyes, two red, fist-sized specks were spat out of the Onion's flower. They fluttered to the mossy soil and planted themselves.

I stood there, mouth agape. Then, the specks grew into tall, single-leafed sprouts. The stems slowly waved to me, glowing a faint red. Pikmin- Actually, _my _Pikmin, looked at me curiously. I walked up to the sprouts, and automatically pulled them out of the soft earth. Two more bright red Pikmin joined me in my adventure.

These new Pikmin looked at me expectantly. I was stunned a little bit. The first Pikmin gestured to the other Pikmin, and they carried the pellet. So, I pointed to another pellet, and the three Pikmin went over to it and carried it together to the Onion. The pellet was consumed and two more seeds were ejected. They grew into sprouts and I plucked them, adding two more Pikmin to my group.

I gathered that the Onion made Pikmin out of other things, and the Pikmin brought more things to make more Pikmin. It made sense to me. But I wondered why I should make more Pikmin. Even with this thought, I continued to create more of my colorful friends.

Eventually, I had a total of twenty-five Pikmin, a small army. They formed a large red swarm behind me, following everywhere I went. I couldn't see any more pellets around, so I moved on. I looked to the sky, which was covered in a thick canopy of branches, and could just make out the sun. It was what looked like noon. I had to find a piece every day, or I would have to find two the next, and that was highly unlikely.

Me and my swarm of Pikmin were about to march off, until I climbed to the top of the Dolphin's wreckage. I looked through the forest's canopy, searching for a sign of sorts. I had no idea where anything might have landed. But then I saw a curious streak of charred leaves high in the branches. "Ahah!" I exclaimed. Either a meteor or one of my ship's pieces had fallen through the forest's branches, and landed rather close by.

I jumped down in excitement and rushed my horde of Pikmin towards the supposed landing sight. I easily ran ahead of the Pikmin, whom were actually rather slow, and found myself a dilemma. A large, un-scalable stone wall stood in my path.

I sat there, currently puzzled as to what to do. I tried to find if there was a path around it, but then, I saw a relatively large section of the wall was not stone. It looked like a soft, porous wood. This wood barrier seemed to have been folded together out of one sheet of it. "Amazing!" I thought, "Giant, foldable, wooden barriers. What a fascinating planet this is!"

I walked up to the blockade and examined it. I rapped on it with my fist, and it produced a muffled, hollow echo. It was apparently hollow, and very large.

After I thought about it, I realized that a large, hollow, wooden blockade was much less formidable than a solid stone wall. I walked up to the soft barrier and pushed against it; the wall didn't budge at all. I stood at an angle and pushed much harder, but it refused to move. I put a considerate distance between myself and the wall, and sprinted towards it. I hit the wall with a great amount of force, and landed face first on the ground. I got up, shook the queasiness from my head, wiped the mud off my helmet, and shakily stood back up. I looked at the ground by the wood wall, and it had barely moved a centimeter.

"That's not going to work," I concluded dumbly. The Pikmin, fascinated with my strange antics, looked at me, and then at the wall. Then one of the red creatures went up to the wall and started to push. Its effort proved futile, but it continued pushing. I was entertained by Pikmin's efforts, but I was amazed as one other Pikmin joined him in pushing the wall. Soon, the wall began to move as all twenty-five Pikmin were pushing with all of their tiny bodies' might.

The large wooden block was being rapidly moved out of the gap in the stone barrier, creating a clear path. I jumped with excitement. "What amazing feats these Pikmin can perform!" I thought. When they had pushed the blockade far back enough, I called them from their task with my whistle and walked into my new area to explore. It was a small glade, like the one I had crashed in. I had barely taken four steps, when my heart did a double-take. By some stroke of sheer luck, across from me was the Dolphin's main engine.

I whooped and cheered with joy, jumping like a madman. "Hooray! Huzzah!" I yelled. The Pikmin stared at me yet again in interest, curious as to why I was hopping like a fool. I dashed over to the shiny ship piece and examined it. It was dented in some places, but it had miraculously not suffered any major damages. How incredibly fortunate I was, my ship's engine not only landing a few yards away, but it being only dented after falling to the earth like a meteor.

I ordered the Pikmin over and they each grabbed ahold of the large metal contraption. With some difficulty, they hoisted it up off the ground and slowly carried it away. I cautiously followed behind them, worried that the strained looking Pikmin would be crushed under the immense weight. But they held through and made it to my ship after some frantic ordering of them not to bring it to their Onion.

They set down the engine and I ordered them to upright my Dolphin. They first pulled it out of the ground, after a few minutes, they hauled and hammered the engine back into place. I then sealed it in place with some screws and a welding torch. It was close to dusk. The sun settled in the western direction of the planet, turning the sky a twilit orange. I breathed deeply, taking a break from my task. I sat on a nearby rock and gazed off at the woodland. The forest was even more beautiful in the golden, eerie hue.

The planet, though not the tropical getaway I was planning to visit, is a paradise next to my home world of Hocotate. Hocotate is quite literally a wasteland. Barely any plants grow there, and it's boiling hot year-round. The headquarters of Hocotate Freight is located in the middle of a featureless desert, far away from my home and about everything else in Hocotate. This is one of the many reasons why I always overachieve at my career, so I can spend more time traveling to distant planets on deliveries. Though it had a poisonous atmosphere, I enjoyed the beauty of the distant planet I was stranded on.

I would have kept staring away at the scenic woodland, if it weren't for the Pikmin eager for another task. One of them tugged on the sleeve of my suit and stared at me blankly. I looked at the other Pikmin, who had been mimicking me and staring off into the vast greenery, but now stared at me for instructions of some sort. I looked around for something to do, and my gaze fell on the Dolphin. I looked at my Engine.

"Perhaps... I should test it out..." I thought. I looked at the Pikmin, and trotted over to my ship. I glanced back at them and gave them a command that signalized dismissal. They looked at me funnily, but I proceeded to climb into the dented and broken cockpit. They looked at each other, spreading a signal of confusion, but I continued to start the engine. The Pikmin to my relief dashed away and entered their Onion by climbing up the three legs of the Onion, and entering through tiny doorways that expanded when the Pikmin got near. I pulled the switch to ignite my engine, and a familiar roar blasted through my Cockpit. I held on tightly to my steering wheel, trying my best to stabilize the ship, even without two fins to my ship.

I did so successfully and found myself ripping through the canopy and flying into the lower atmosphere of the planet, which was now drowned in the black shade of night. Shockingly, I saw the Onion follow me. The Onion had folded its legs and was using the tiny flower atop it as a propeller. I didn't wish to wander away from the area I was currently in, so I locked the steering mechanism to continuously turn my ship in a large circle.

I turned from my seat and removed my helmet, walking down the hall. I searched through some cabinets and found some nutrition powder, which I then consumed. I cautiously looked around my ship for paranoid reasons, and got out a case of cookies. Normal food isn't allowed on deliveries, but since I was technically away on vacation and no one was around, I was free to eat anything I pleased. However, being stranded on a toxic planet makes one cautious of their food supplies, so I restrained myself from devouring the whole batch.

Bored, I walked along the Dolphin's Main Hall, looking for something to do. I looked around the walls and cabinets to find something. I then noticed a device atop one of my shelves. It was small, metal, and had a monitor. It was my audio recorder.

I took the handheld machine and looked over the monitor, which displayed the recordings I had with my therapist. I thought about it, and opened a new file, named "Thirty Days". I sat down comfortably in my seat and set it down on my dashboard. I pressed a button and a mechanical voice said "Commence recording in three. Two. One. Zero."

"Hello" I began, "My name is Captain Olimar." Text rapidly dotted the screen, copying my very words. "I am currently stranded on an unknown and uninhabited planet with high levels of a toxic gas called oxygen. I have but my ship, the S.S. Dolphin that is near torn apart after crash-landing here, and a dented engine. I currently have only 29 days to collect the other 29 pieces to my ship before my life-support systems fail.

"But I have found hope; I met a species of indigenous creatures I have named Pikmin. What remarkable creatures they are! They appear to be a blend of both animal and plant. They are capable of independent movement like animals, and can absorb nutrients from the ground and have a tall, leaf-like structure atop what looks like a stem, not unlike that of a plant. These creatures have apparently befriended me and with their help, I had found the engine to my ship, and was able to fly into the atmosphere, where I record this report." I paused and glanced out the cockpit window and saw the beautiful, starry night vista. I gazed around and saw the Onion hovering faithfully behind me.

"The Pikmin have followed me into the sky in their ship I have called an Onion, as it has a remarkable resemblance to a similarly named crop that grows on my home planet Hocotate. The Pikmin also seem to propagate with this machine/plant. They take these bright red pellets that grow on flowers and insert them in the Onion, which then I believe converts the nutrients in the pellet into seeds that apparently are juvenile forms of the Pikmin.

"I have a total of twenty-five Pikmin, and I believe they have adopted me as their leader, as they follow my every command. Hopefully, they will assist me tomorrow when I search for the rest of the ship pieces." I took a look through the window and saw a large, lush-looking forest. "Beneath me as I fly in the lower atmosphere of this toxic planet is an enormous forest, several times larger than the Impact Site of my ship. I name it the Forest of Hope, as it may contain the keys to my escape. I will explore it now. This is Captain Olimar logging off."

After pressing a button on the Recorder a voice chimed "Recording finished." I prepared to land into the forest, but I looked off into space, at all of the millions of stars glittering and twinkling. I scanned the sky and saw a big splotch of starry light that was very similarly looking to a puddle of spilt milk. I had never seen such an odd sight in the sky before. And to add to the unfamiliarity, all of the stars in the sky were scattered in a drastically new collection. One was even a bright red. It was very different, but still just as beautiful as any other night sky.

I felt my eyelids gain several pounds, and slowly cover my eyes. I struggled to keep them open so I could ogle at the sky just that much longer, but I succumbed to my troublesome need for sleep. And so concluded Day One.


	3. Day 2

Phew. Welp, here you go. Ch. 3, hot off the press. At least, the second half. Sooo glad this is up and running again. Expect Day 3 in the following weeks. All support is appreciated, especially reviews. Hope you enjoy, I'm particularly proud of how this one truned out! Feel free to point out typos, I can't stand the things. Until next time!

**Day Two**

I awoke to the violent jerking of my seat. I jolted upright and attempted to gather what was going on. I was answered by my ship's fuel gauge teetering grimly into the empty mark, and the fact that I could see myself and the Dolphin briskly descending into the planet's surface.

"Brilliant," I muttered sarcastically. Grabbing the steering wheel until my knuckles trembled, I attempted to somehow land the ship without losing another 30 parts. It wasn't easy without my Omega Stabilizer, which was one of the fins that kept the Dolphin flying in a straight line, but I managed to miraculously keep it on course. I could make out that I was careening into the Forest of Hope. I was slightly joyful, however, I would have preferred to land there, not crash. I flew through a thick canopy of branches and giant leaves, flying near out-of-control.

I saw the ground approaching, so I yanked what was left of the ship's nose upwards and threw on the thrusters full blast to slow my rapid descent. The engine room groaned and roared, smoke billowing out in floods. Choking and coughing, I stuck my helmet on and pressed a button to filter out the black gases. I felt the ship slow down, and then a sudden _Thunk!_ My head slammed on the control board, which would have certainly knocked me unconscious if I hadn't put my helmet on. I groaned in pain, having been hit in several places in my current trip. I gingerly stretched my aching neck.

I pressed a button on the control pad, and then remembered my predicament. The Dolphin ran completely on electricity, and one of the pieces missing was my Eternal Fuel Dynamo, which generated a near infinite amount of electrical energy. Without it, I had practically no power, and the Dolphin could not take off.

As if I didn't have enough to deal with already.

I grabbed my backscratcher and pried open the cockpit once again. I hopped out, and found myself in a big, deep crater in the ground. I looked up and saw a forest filled from floor to canopy with beautiful plant-life. Flowers several times the size of my ship began to blossom, as it was the crack of dawn. Hundreds of trees taller than the highest skyscrapers from my home-world loomed high above me, dwarfing both me and the Dolphin. To think that I thought the Impact Site was big.

Hearing a soft, purring noise, I turned and saw the bright red Onion hover down from the sky to join me in the steep crater. Its legs folded back out and it stood, imposing as it was, standing several times my size. I began to wonder where the pikmin were, but, as if it had read my mind, a thin, pink tendril uncurled and hung out from the bottom of the bulbous vehicle.

Wondering what this could have meant, I went up to the thin tentacle, and pulled on it, just one short jerk. A red, energetic pikmin popped out from the top of the Onion's flower with a cheerful, squeaky "Whee!" It hastily got up from its face-first landing and skipped up beside me, as if it was bored and wished for something to do. I tugged on the vine two quick times, and two more Pikmin were squirted out. They plopped onto the earth with a bump and quickly hopped up and followed suit with the first.

I gripped the tendril with both hands and pulled it until it stretched no more. pikmin gushed out from the top like water and steam from a geyser. They landed in several positions, some on their feet, on all fours, square on their nose or flat on their back. It was humorous to see them jump right back up like nothing happened after such a clumsy entrance.

They formed a crowd of red and were prepared to work again today. I nodded in approval and set off. Walking around the rocky, circular enclosure, I searched for any means of escape. I saw one wall that was not part of the earth, made of tightly packed stone and rubble, but didn't look like any amount of force that we could muster would budge it.

I moved on, and found another wall opposite side of the stone wall. It was made of a tangled mess of roots twice as thick as myself. The roots felt quite soft, and after seeing what they did to the wooden barrier the previous day, this wouldn't be much of a problem. I sent out my whole troop of pikmin and they began to whack and hack at the thick roots. I watched as they worked at the wall, very slowly.

In fact, it was a little too slow, so I called two pikmin to my side and marched off to find some pellets. I saw a tall Pellet Posy, which I had named the flower, perched on an un-scalable cliff somewhere away from the root wall. I tried to find some way of getting up there, and when I couldn't, I ordered the pikmin to try to attack the flower. They futilely attempted to climb up the rock face, and kept falling when they reached a few feet up. I thought to myself about a new tactic, and then I had an epiphany.

I saw the tall stalks on the pikmin's head, and how I had yanked one from the ground so forcefully the other day by the same limb, without harming them at all. I called them both to my side, grabbed one of the pikmin by their stem, and tossed them at the flower. To my surprise, it soared over the cliff and landed perfectly on the Pellet. It had been particularly light. The pikmin proceeded to beat at the flower, and eventually knocked the Pellet out from its resting spot.

I heard the red person picking up the bounty and marching away. He oddly walked right off the cliff, landed perfectly on its feet and continued hauling the Pellet to the Onion. The Onion consumed it and out came two more seeds. They quickly sprouted and I plucked them from the earth. They looked at me curiously, intrigued by my glowing antenna. I ordered them off to work on the root wall, which had been brought down several feet.

I looked to the sky and saw that the sun had risen a bit. What profound beauty had existed here, unseen by others. I felt rather lucky to crash on such a green world. I had been looking off long enough to allow one of the pikmin to wander away and do its own business. It began picking and plucking at a patch of tall grass near the Onion. I'd had enough of tearing up plants after Day One when I saw the first one wildly running around, knocking down Pellet Posies.

I called over the raving pikmin, and was going to search for more pellets, but a curious event took place. From each of the broken blades of grass a bright, yellow fluid slowly bled out, forming a deep puddle. Wondering what it was, I walked up to it and scooped out a handful. It was thick and runny, like a golden syrup. The two pikmin behind me naturally followed my every step, which I had forgotten.

I turned around and bumped right into one, falling on my bum into the puddle of sap. I tried to get up, but I was glued to the severed clumps of grass. The pikmin loyally rushed to my side and tried to pry me out of the sticky mess, with a bit of a tug-of war with the ground. After I was out, I looked to see if the pikmin were alright, and was given a bit of a surprise. Atop each of their stems, replacing their signature leaves, was now a large flower. It had five white petals and a bright yellow center, blooming merrily. Each of the pikmin looked more energetic and active. I noted this enigma, and experimented.

I called one more pikmin from the crowd tearing down the wall to me. I scooped up a handful of the goo and smeared over the red person. The substance looked like it was absorbed by the pikmin's very skin, and soon, its leaf warped into a bulbous shape, and then unfolded into a flower. It gained the animated looking expression of the first two, looking around the forest like it could see for the very first time.

I pondered this new discovery for a few seconds. Then, I ordered the three pikmin to attack the slightly scorched Pellet Posy hiding behind my ship. They ran over there at speed I had yet to see in a pikmin and attacked the flower with great vigor. They hauled over the posy's pellet to the Onion which produced two more scarlet seeds. I plucked them once they sprouted, and had them wade in the puddle of nectar. They bloomed into flowers, and were then looking bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. I examined this once more, and called over the entire squad who had tore down the wall of roots a little bit passed half-way.

I ordered the entire pack into the nectar, and so they did. Before I knew it, they all had bright, white blooms sprouting atop their stems, and looked several times more spirited. I thought about the energy each pikmin gained with nectar, and ordered all twenty-nine to work on the wall.

They chopped and clawed away at the roots more ferociously than ever, letting out yelps and squeaks as they did so. I wondered how they made sounds without a mouth, but I had spent too much time studying; I needed to find a part that day, or I would have to find two the next, and I doubted such could be done. I stood triumphantly as my army slew the wall in but a few more minutes. The pikmin all heaved a heavy sigh, after working so hard.

On the other side of where we were, there was a flat, wide meadow with a large pond. There were many Pellet Posies basking in the soft sunlight of mid-morning, and two islands emerged from the lake. My, the beauty of that planet never ceased to amaze me. I tried to breathe in some fresh air, but I only got compressed air from the tankard on my back. I marched off with my Pikmin and knocked down all of the Posies. They hauled back the bounty of Pellets. I watched at a distance, commanding them from a shallow hill. But I noticed a peculiar thing; one of the Pellets they had collected was saffron yellow. I was puzzled by this.

"Perhaps it's a different species?" I pondered. I marched over to the Onion to see the Onion consume the golden object. Instead of the normal two pikmin, only one seed was ejected from the top. "What could this mean?" I thought. I decided to put off this event and continued my pikmin creation.

Eventually, I had forty pikmin, a large army. I led my horde of plant people to an immediate left when we exited the demolished gate of roots. We wrestled through some shrubs, and plucked some more nectar grass, making an army of forty flower pikmin. I felt fairly confident about now, with such a formidable group. And oh, would I need it.

After trekking for awhile, I came across the inevitable: A native creature.

I emerged from a thick bush, followed by my loyal plant-workers, to a surprising sight. I halted in my tracks, staring. In front of us was a large, bulbous creature, a little bigger than me. It had a thick, potato-shaped body, with one half being red with white specks, and the front a tan skin color. Its head was practically merged with its large body; the only thing distinct about each being the color and the head having two large eyes on eyestalks and a wide, fanged mouth. It sniffed the ground hungrily, foraging for grass or moss, perhaps. It was rather carnivorous-looking, so I tried to back away slowly.

However, fortune had taken a bathroom-break, and I stepped on the foot of a pikmin behind me, who let out a surprised yelp. The creature jerked its head up like a predator that had smelt its prey, which I was really hoping it hadn't. We locked eyes. I froze, hoping the creature would ignore us. It didn't.

The fat beast charged my army of pikmin in a clumsy waddle, snorting and salivating. I panicked and scrambled back into the brush, hurrying the pikmin ahead of me. Panting heavily, I saw the round monster trying to force its body into the bushes, but to no avail. It glared at me with an expression of both hunger and annoyance, let out a furious bark and stomped off to its foraging spot. It sniffed at the ground, giving me occasional looks of death.

Trying to calm down, I nervously counted the pikmin, hoping they all made it into the bushes. I was terrified to see one of them charge the blubbery beast. "No!" I shouted futilely. The pikmin proceeded to hammer the animal with its flower like a weapon. The beast swerved around infuriated and savagely opened its mouth to devour the pikmin. It pounced face first, but the red person nimbly hopped out of the way, resulting in the monster falling over. It continued whacking it's predator, swiftly dodging each bite.

I grew excited, cheering on the pikmin; the others let out shrill whoops and cheers themselves. In a terrifying instant, however, the pikmin tripped and landed on his face. The beast dove for him, fangs bared and ready to clamp down. Before he could sink his teeth into the tiny plant, he pushed off with his hands and landed just barely outside of the monster's reach. The beast's maw shut down on the ground and managed to snag the end of the pikmin's leaf. I gasped and stared on, too caught up in the scene to try and act. Ensnared by his antenna, the pikmin let out a scream of terror and panic. The beast shook its head furiously, shaking the pikmin around like a rag doll. The leaf tore under the pressure, and the tiny red trooper was sent flying, a small bite taken out of his leaf.

I gasped in horror, but was overcome instantly by amazement as the pikmin was back on his feet as quickly as he had hit the ground. Before he could meet the beast (and his demise) again, I whistled to him franticly. He immediately turned, fixated on my suit's antenna, and trotted back to me within the cover of the brush. The mouth with legs stomped about angrily, covered in bruises, letting the pikmin get away. "For now…" I could imagine him saying in whatever language his fat, rotund kind would speak.

My pikmin army was scattered among the bushes, hiding from the vicious predator. They looked to the injured champion, and then back to me. They converged in a crescent crowd in front of me, expectantly. "They need me to guide them," I thought. "I'm like a captain to them."

My eyes scanned the crowd and reached around to the monster. I stood amongst them like a towering beacon, my antenna's red light reflecting in their curious, beady eyes. I turned to them and whistled loudly, making both them and the bulbous animal jump in shock. The swarm of red people crowded behind me as I looked boldly into the confused monster's eyes. With two short whistle blows, I pointed at it and the pikmin charged.

They flocked around the overwhelmed creature and battered away mercilessly. It barely had any time to react before it was but a slumped body plopped onto the soft soil. The army dispersed and filed in a circular crowd behind me. I counted the remaining Pikmin and found that all thirty-nine had survived. "Good," I said to myself, satisfied. I walked up to the carcass and examined it. It looked dead, and I poked it to be certain. In an instant, a ludicrous thought passed my mind. I decided to try a little experiment.

With a single whistle blow, I gestured to a group of six pikmin and then at the body. They understood quickly and hurried to the item and carried it off to our base. I followed behind them and watched as the crimson Onion consumed it just as it did with pellets. And exactly like before, the Onion spat out several red seeds, three to be exact. They were plucked and joined the ranks obediently, like they knew precisely what to do. This puzzled me, but all I needed to know was that they would follow my commands, which they most certainly did.

We all marched off past the clearing where our grim attack had occurred, killing more monsters (I named them bulborbs for their shape) without losing a single pikmin. We attacked without hesitation in order to surprise the creatures, and it always worked. I found that hurling one of the pikmin like a stick one would play fetch with at the beast caught it off guard and surprised it into inaction. Then, the army that followed me would close in on the beast and kill it in a matter of seconds. The power the little troopers wielded was quite astonishing to me, despite the fact I had not even began to scratch the surface of their potential at this point in my journey.

We hacked through the bushes and more Pellet Posies, leaving a trail of bounty as I thought it best to collect it later. I felt like the leader of a squad of super soldiers, proud and unstoppable. All of this was torn to the ground in a single instant.

I tromped out of the shrubbery into a clearing, and my eyes met one of the most monstrous creatures I've ever seen; a hideous bulb-orb the size of the Dolphin. It made my army seem like a swarm of flies trying to take on a tank.

Its face was flabby and sported a pair of fangs as long as one of my pikmin. A foul odor passed from its enormous maw with each loud, trumpeting snore, (I couldn't smell with my helmet on, but my pikmin appeared to sniff the air with disgusted looks.) It was asleep, thankfully not aware of our presence. Its talon-wielding feet kicked the ground as it dreamed, each claw easily able to cleave my torso in two. Most of my army could rest with the confines of its gaping, tooth-lined jaw.

My knees trembled violently, and my breath escaped my lungs. The gravity seemed to intensify in my shock, and the ground seemed to be rising up in an attempt to meet me. My battalion of forty suddenly seemed very miniscule. Perhaps a couple hundred and I could handle it comfortably?

I motioned to the pikmin behind me with a type of panicked, backwards wheeling-motion with my arms, my eyes locked on the monstrous bulb-orb. The pikmin backed away, their eyes too fixed on the beast, though not with fear; something more along the lines of curiosity or interest. Were they assessing it for compatibility with the onion? Mad little creatures, I thought.

Once we were what felt like a safe distance from the fiend, I took another examination. My eyes must have popped from my head, because right under the hulk of fang and flab was a metallic, circular item; the Eternal Fuel Dynamo.

I grinned giddily for a second until I remembered that a giant carnivore was using it as a pillow. I frowned. How comfortable could that hunk of metal possibly be?

I pulled out my backscratcher shakily and assessed my surroundings. The beast was resting in the charred crater created by the impact of the E.F.D.'s landing. I looked to the sky, and saw the sun was slowly approaching the… I checked my suit's built in compass… West side of the horizon, through the tangled canopy of leaves and branches. Today was almost over, and I spent most of it butchering native flora and fauna. I needed at least another part, and frankly my only option was to retrieve the E.F.D. from underneath the belly of the giant bulb-orb.

"Should I sneak around it?" I thought. "Is there any way to not disturb the beast?" I recollected the seeming ease my pikmin handled the smaller ones, and the fact that there were several carcasses and pellets to be collected.

In a rush, I ordered the bounties be hauled back to onion posthaste. They marched quickly and soon our numbers grew to sixty, forty flowers and twenty leaves.

I drew a sketch on the ground, preparing a plan of attack. The sun edged closer to the end of the sky as I plotted. The pikmin watched with wide eyes at my scribbles and counting. In the end, I decided that a straight up attack from the rear of the behemoth would surprise it, and with an army sixty-strong, I felt that we could handle it easily.

With a deep breath, a strange mix of eagerness and dread, I led the pikmin around the crater, my eyes involuntarily locked with the humongous bulborb. "Is this the feeling a commander has as he leads his battalion to its certain demise?" I brooded grimly. Quickly, I banished such thoughts from my mind. It would do no good. Not now.

The pikmin marched in a quick pace, their light feet skipping nimbly. They barely made contact with the ground, creating little noise for a crowd of sixty. Despite their nimbleness, the flowers easily outpaced the leaves. The slowness of the leaves was very apparent, even with my cautious yet speedy trotting to the beast.

All of these thoughts came very quickly. I assumed this is the effect of adrenaline in the mind of a soldier preparing for battle.

The idea of me being a soldier was very amusing at that moment.

The army crowded around me silently, the soldiers still fixated on my antenna. I snuck as quietly as I could up to the beast, my whole body shaking violently. The loud, obnoxious snores of the beast were so loud now; I could feel them rattling my very skeleton.

Clutching my back-scratcher closer and tighter than ever, I edged the pikmin slowly as possible towards the behemoth. I could practically reach out and smack and smack the beast's rump with the metal rod. It felt heavier than ever.

For the longest second, I mused over what a stupid, rash, uneducated, idiotic, half-brained, futile, suicidal, dumb, terrible, horrible, just-plain-bad idea this was…

…As I ducked my head down, waiting for the beast to stand up and swallow my body whole, my eyes reached back and found the faces of my pikmin. Their eyes seemed to have trouble staying focused on my suit's light, constantly drifting to the polka-dotted monster before us. Their eyes told me; they were ready.

In the fastest second I have ever experienced, I whistled as loudly and as long as I could, arms reached outward towards the bulborb. The pikmin, had they possessed mouths, would be grinning ear to ear as they charged the behind of the beast. Squeaky battle-cries rang out from all sixty as they tackled the beast.

All hell broke loose.

The bulborb, far less stunned than I would have preferred, was on its skinny legs almost instantly, like… Like it had just gotten up from a refreshing nap… The pikmin still clung to its rump as their stems came down on its hide, like the beast had a coat of swinging plants on its backside. With a great shake, it stomped its feet and pikmin fell from it. It glared angrily, slobber trailing from its fanged maw. Its jaw creaked open and revealed a mouth that could fit the Onion inside of it. It reached back to try and chomp down on the scattered pikmin. Immediately, eight or ten red bodies disappeared in a flash of gum and fang. The bulborb smacked its lips as it gnashed horrifyingly on the pikmin. Between chews, I could see their rag-doll bodies, leaking with red blood, tossed, sliced and crushed by the monster.

Their eyes, as they were eaten up like bites of cereal; their wide, begging, terrified eyes… They stared right at me as I watched them be devoured alive…

…I'm sorry, this one scene has always been difficult to retell…

I stood back from the scene, my heart punching holes in my chest. The pikmin still fighting battered away like that was their one and only task. Bruises and gashes lined the beast's rump, their little limbs hitting far harder than one would expect. It still stomped around, trying to take more bites of the army. Another three were eaten. Then a group of six.

With every bite the monster took out of my army, my feet moved faster. I rushed around the beast, trying to get a look at the fight. I had never run so fast in my life, my air tanks barely able to keep up with my lungs. My eyes barely kept up with my mind. We were losing, and I needed a better plan right then. In a split second I noticed that the beast's deceptively scrawny legs allowed it to quickly turn and chomp at the pikmin, to whom I whistled.

I gestured to the legs of the beast and the army ducked under the massive head of the beast. They all grabbed and smacked away at the monster's legs. It tried to shake them, but its small feet lacked the strength to loosen the pikmin's grip. As it tried to bite at its own ankles, it fell forward like a tree felled by a lumberjack. Its snout crashed into the ground with a tremendous thud. The rotund creature quickly rolled itself onto its back and kicked fiercely, shaking the pikmin off. However, I quickly gathered their attention and motioned to the fiend's whole body. They quickly beat away at the lopsided monster, as it tried to roll back upright. The pikmin, with their tiny yet strong arms, kept it upright and managed to hold it down. The beast let out a bark from its helpless position, but quickly calmed down as its breathing ceased.

I approached timidly, the beast seemingly dead, and counted out my pikmin. Twenty-three, mostly leaves. "We could've done worse," I thought. I chuckled out loud very heartily. The next instant, the pikmin surrounded the beast and, against all numbers, hoisted its round body off the ground. They marched off towards the Onion.

"How in Hocotate do they plan to use that monstrosity," I mused. Once we were back to our small encampment, I saw as the tendrils of the Onion started to dismember the carcass. The legs, sections of the abdomen, eyes, eyestalks, teeth, snout, all were pulled apart deftly by the tendrils like a knife through bread. The Onion swallowed up each one, and a shower of seeds fluttered back down to the earth around it. One dozen. They quickly sprouted, and I plucked them with great haste.

"What an enigma, the pikmin can recover their numbers even after such a horrific conflict." My mind began to race as memories of biology classes came to mind. "Is this their natural order? Sacrifice some so that more may be grown for later?" Unlikely, given of the results of our last encounter. "Without my guidance, each and every one of them may have been devoured. They are completely helpless without some kind of leader to guide them…" A puzzling thought, but the sight of my crashed ship brought me back to reality.

The E.F.D.!

I hurried the group of thirty-five pikmin back to the crater and ordered them around the E.F.D. They quickly grasped the metal case that held together two separate chambers that created the reaction. Supposedly, this thing had the capacity to _never_ run out of energy. I can't imagine how many conflicts were resolved with the invention of this device.

The pikmin hurried off with the E.F.D. while I stayed behind to observe the battleground. Crimson blood painted the charred crater made by my very own intrusion into this alien world.

I was about to leave until my eyes caught the sight of a living nightmare. On the ground was the broken, bleeding body of a pink pikmin, his stem bent. He lay there on the ground, unable to move, his limbs all torn off at the body. My heart and lungs all stopped at the scene, and my eyes locked with his. Oh horrors, the pleading look in his eyes, his body pail and colorless. The blood was drained around in a pool around him. My god, his head seemed to turn so that his eyes would always meet mine…

My feet never moved quicker than during that trip back to the Dolphin.

Back at the ship, I clawed for air as the pikmin stood expectantly at the foot of the dolphin. I ordered them where to put the piece and they quickly obeyed. A little welding and a couple layers of duct tape, and the piece was a good as new. I had them upright the ship yet again. The Dolphin coughed with life again, with an engine and a power source to fuel it.

Suddenly, the day's toll hit me all at once, and my entire body began to ache. A crash landing will certainly do it to your lumbar region. Too bad the entire seat to my ship was missing…

I turned to the pikmin. Every single one of their eyes met mine, those black, hope-filled little beads. Memories of their fight came rushing forward, but I quickly tried to forsake them. They looked as exhausted as I did, I was certain. I gestured to their Onion, and they obeyed, looking somewhat satisfied. They climbed the legs and hid inside the seemingly endless inside of the plant-machine.

I too retired to my spacecraft, bunkering down with a quilt my wife made me. In its embroidery were several constellations I recognized from our home planet. My muscles seemed to ease all at once, and I felt sleep creeping up to whisk me away…

The Dolphin buzzed. I looked out my cockpit window and saw the Onion taking off, legs tucked in and propeller buzzing.

Before I had a chance to think, I flew forward and smashed into the window. I looked to the ground and slightly wet myself as a bulborb, easily the size of the massive one from before, was trying to chew at the side of the Dolphin. Panicked, I flipped all of the switches to the ship and threw on the thrusters faster than ever before. Flames spat out from beneath the ship, scaring off the bulborb. The ship slowly began to rise, and the bulborb barked madly. As I rose, the rest of the forest came into view, and I saw what looked like _hundreds_ of the round devils stomping about, foraging and hunting.

"My god," I gasped, "their_ nocturnal_." Sitting in the seat and steering the ship in a circular orbit around the forest. I caught sight of the Onion quickly fluttering up beside my Ship. They had already known this…

Wide awake, I grabbed my journal and quickly recorded my findings for the day. Exhausted yet again, I foolishly looked back at the Onion, flying diligently behind me. Images of those poor, broken bodies, who had followed me so trustingly into the fray… Their severed limbs, flowing blood, and cracked heads…

Would that one survivor still be alive as the predators of the night began their hunt? Would he be forced to watch helplessly as they descended upon him…?

That night was the first of many I spent sleepless on this garden of nightmares.


	4. Day 3

Here it is, Day 3! ...I won't lie, it was a little difficult to piece this one together. With the majority of events in _Pikmin_ being collecting ship parts, slaying beasts and tearing down walls, it'll be hard trying to fit in story in between monster-attacks, hence the shortness of this chapter. But if I didn't think I could pull it off, I wouldn't have started this in the first place! You may have noticed, but this Olimar will be taking his adventure slower, since this is his first time directing a tribe of pastel plant-pygmies! Be patient with our poor little newb! The course of _Thirty Days_ is anything but set-in-stone, so feel free to volunteer any ideas of your about what could happen story-wise. I might include it if I like it, with credit of course ;). The main goal of this story is to explore and elaborate on the experience that is _Pikmin_, including my memories, yours, and even Olimar's! Reviews appreciated greatly, as is any support! Enjoy!

**Day 3**

For the first time so far, I had not landed in a catastrophic crash that day. Instead, I decided to land in the same clearing created by my first crash back down in the Forest of Hope. I waited the whole night until dawn, kept awake by the experiences of yesterday. When I was certain the beasts had retired to their resting spots, I decided to return to the surface. As we descended, I looked to the horizon, which expanded so greatly. This world's yellow sun sparkled like a gold jewel. Despite its blinding beauty, it brought me great dread. Every time it would set would be another day I would never have again for my search for the Dolphin's parts.

The Dolphin landed upright in the clearing, the Onion following suit. It landed perfectly centered on a very elaborate pattern in the ground. Swirls and loops etched in the dirt formed something like a circle that encompassed the perimeter of the Onion.

I trotted up to the Onion and tugged, calling out all thirty-five of the pikmin. They lined nice and orderly before me, and we set to work. Immediately I sent them off and plucked the nearest patch of nectar-grass. Soon, they were all blossoming and ready to move.

We trekked out and near the lake, slaying any Pellet Posies on the way. I had the army take care of several dwarf bulborbs that blocked our way with the greatest calmness. After yesterday, they were nothing compared to the great spotty bulborbs. I called them such as their white polka-dots seemed to grow and then shrink as the behemoths snored away.

In record time, we made it to the crater made by the E.F.D. I continued past it with great haste. For a second, I thought I saw something red and glowing inside the charred pit, but I tried as hard as possible to avert my eyes.

Further into the woods, we came across another root-gate. I dispatched the troops to take care of it.

Minutes passed. They were taking longer than I would have preferred. If we had more, it would be over far sooner. An idea presented itself boldly. I whistled the workers away and split the group into two. I sent twenty to continue the dismantling and brought the remaining fifteen with me. We gathered up the posies and carcasses and hauled them back. The Onion gifted us with twenty-five more ruby workers. The forty returned with me to find the wall still being labored away at.

The pikmin had a curiously strong case of tunnel vision. Give him a task and he will deliver to the best of his ability. He will work away, under attack or not, until his task is complete. I certainly couldn't ask for a better workman. However, they needed to be directed at all times. Without a job, it would seem they sit their idly, nearly oblivious to their surroundings. Most might cringe at the idea of such multi-tasking, but I, unlike my fellow male compatriots, thrived with multiple tasks to do. My meticulous and orderly lifestyle might seem to pay off in this scenario, despite any grievances given to me by coworkers/family-members.

The remaining pikmin joined in and the wall tumbled down swiftly. This new clearing was covered in a thick layer of moss. It was soft and spongy; I could feel myself bouncing with each step, as well as the light-footed pikmin.

Several tall pellet posies faced their petals to the sun, the light glinting off their shiny pellets; which, interestingly, were bright saffron. The pikmin did not pay them much attention, despite their affinity for the red ones.

Before we got any further, however, the most curious sensation entered my legs. A tiny, subtle vibration shook at my joints. The pikmin seemed to buzz, their eyes widening and their heads all looking down at the mossy floor. Before I could take another step, a fiery, piercing pain clamped down on my shin. With a holler, I reached grabbed at the pair of pincers that held my leg in a vice. Franticly, I shook and yanked away, trying to pry free. The pikmin quickly swarmed around me, and amazingly grabbed on to me and pulled me somewhat free. My attacker was pulled out from his trapdoor, and what a beastly thing it was!

A deep violet worm, round and as large as my body, was biting down on the leg of my space-suit. Its pincers around its mouth were thickly armored in chitin, as well as its head. Beady eyes seemed to stare at nothing in particular as it squirmed; my leg was jerked around violently, a sharp pain exploding from within.

Once it was out from its mossy burrow, it let go fairly quickly and wormed its way back into the ground. Complete silence followed as the pikmin looked back at its hole.

Before we could even react, the entire mossy earth buzzed vibrantly. The pikmin and I looked around crazily, as we realized that the entire mound was speckled with these covered holes.

In the next instant, several of those same worms burst up in an explosion of pincers and moss. The pikmin lost all sense of organization and unleashed havoc. These sheargrubs, a total of seven, leaped out and clamped down on a pikmin each. Right to my side, a pikmin struggled to release the grip of the grub's jaws, while the others battered and pried away at the beast. Instinctively, I reached for my back-scratcher and brought it down madly on the worm's head. The shell cracked and out oozed some blue-green slime; it coated the pikmin as it struggled free from the dead fiend's grasp.

I looked around in a panic as the other six worms all crushed the pikmin in their vice grips. The poor red soldiers were split clean in two as the pincers swung through in a scissoring motion. Before I could react, I smacked away at each one until they all lay dead, killed relatively quickly after their vicious executions. Looking back, they hardly stood a chance against all of us. But I suppose that beasts were never the greatest tacticians.

The ground began to rumble angrily again, and I prepared for another wave of hungry pincers. However, razor sharp jaws did not emerge; just some large, harmless looking maggots the size of my torso rose up. They were not armored at all, their white, fleshy exterior completely vulnerable. I kept the pikmin back, now in a group behind me and away from the mossy hill. The worms did not approach us. Instead, they scooted up in their disgusting, maggot-like movements up to the pools of red blood made by the cleaved pikmin. They lapped up the blood like fat, limbless hogs and quickly burrowed back under the moss.

"Disgusting!" I retched. Though I stood ready for any other invaders, none more appeared. Trying my best to shrug off the encounter, we marched off past the clearing, taking routes to the side of the mossy piles. Towards the back of the clearing, the moss stopped, and bare ground formed a large circle; intricate carvings swirled and twirled in a familiar fashion…

"No…" I thought out loud in disbelief as my eyes rose and saw before me a large boulder in the center. It was a dull, brown color.

I dismissed the pikmin and approached it by myself, very slowly. I took light steps, unsure if I had just discovered what I thought I found…

The sphere seemed to sense my presence flashed a bright yellow color. A large white flower popped out of the top and began to spin rapidly. I quickly backed up, but the yellow Onion shot up like a rocket and knocked me back and off my feet. I flipped through the air and landed on my rump some yards from the Onion.

My jaw dropped at the sight, as the golden Onion stood on its tripod legs imposingly. It seemed slightly taller than the red one, but I wasn't sure. The machine spat out a tiny yellow seed that fluttered to the ground daintily, where it quickly rooted. Once it sprouted, I quickly approached and uprooted the plant.

To my surprise, the sprout gave no resistance as it swiftly popped out, far more easily than I prepared for. A small yellow figure soared overhead and landed several yards behind me. The red pikmin jumped with shock as it landed before them.

I turned, and saw that a bright yellow pikmin had joined our ranks. He stood on thin, dainty legs which supported a smaller than average body, a tiny bit scrawnier than the reds. Most noticeably, however, was the large pair of ears that rested on his head. They were comically proportioned, like wings attached to his head; they flapped and twitched at the sounds that surrounded it. He looked at me with eyes just like those of the red pikmin; small beady, and very curious. He fixated on my antenna intently and stood at attention. The red pikmin abandoned their idle banter to look at our newcomer; they approached with great caution, examining him up and down.

"Amazing" I exclaimed, "There's a different breed of pikmin it would seem!" My mind raced: Do they cooperate with the reds? Do they propagate like the reds? Are they as obedient? What makes them so different?

Instead of simply hypothesizing, I decided to do some field work. Immediately, I set him to work on the bright saffron pellet posies; unsurprisingly, they yielded two more golden seeds from the yellow Onion. They were plucked and set to work, just as quick to work as the reds. I had the reds help harvest the pellets to quicken our pace; it was almost noon, and I had yet to spot today's part! It would not be the last time I forgot my mission amidst the biological wonders of this strange world.

With all of the pellet posies and fallen sheargrubs collected and absorbed by the yellow Onion, we had a platoon of twenty yellow pikmin, totaling up to fifty-five pikmin. I wondered if the Onion had recognized me as a friend, and timidly left the tiny glade it rested in.

We entered a moist gorge, the ground wet and muddy, that weaved through a short distance. Cliffs hewn from the mud faced inward, coated in moss. The pikmin struggled somewhat to keep pace with me in the sticky environment. I slowed my pace and tried to observe my surroundings. The parts could have landed anywhere in this treacherous terrain.

The yellows seemed to observe a lot more than the reds, their ears twitching away. I watched them carefully, as I had no clue where to look. They seemed to be listening to something over the cliffs. I prayed that meant nothing; the slopes were impossibly high and far too steep to traverse. However, I too heard the most curious thing; some kind of tiny, miniscule beeping sound. I ordered the army to halt, and they all stopped, sinking up to their ankles in mud. The reds looked around idly, but the yellows looked to the slope on the left of me.

I closed my eyes and tried to pinpoint where that familiar beeping came from. I felt awfully acquainted to it, like some nursery song from my childhood…

My eyes burst open. "It's the radar!" My radar dish sent out a light, incessant beep that created a scope of the nearby surroundings, for about a ten mile radius. Most importantly, I could search the location of any of the Dolphin's parts! Joyous day!

I turned and observed the slope; it was still as tall and un-scalable as before. A thought entered my mind. I grasped a nearby yellow pikmin, remembering how high they flew when plucked. Surely enough, he was much lighter than the red pikmin. I raised him high, aimed for the top of the cliff, and hurled.

He flew and incredible height, soaring like a bird. He flipped repeatedly and landed agilely on his feet at the very top. He scanned quickly and clearly noticed something. He ran off out of sight, his attention gone. I grabbed another yellow and tossed him. He ran off as well and supposedly joined the other. I threw another. And then another. The yellows lined up in squiggling lines behind me with the reds following close behind.

When all twenty were up at the peak, I waited eagerly for several seconds. My heart jumped with joy at the sight of the twenty yellow workers hauling over the large, broken sonar dish over the edge. I smiled, panicked for a second as they walked right off the edge of the cliff, and then smiled yet again as they landed on their feet nimbly. I had the reds help out, and we were dragging off perhaps one of the most useful pieces to the Dolphin I could have found.

Back at base, I giddily grabbed my welding tools and set to work. Fusing the wires back up to what was left of my ship's computer, I hammered and screwed the dish back into place, the familiar beeping feeling full of gratitude and new hope. I synced my suit up with the new radar system, and started to run a scan of the whole forest. Minutes pass; my fingers fidgeted with anticipation, and I found it hard to stand still.

Huzzah! The entire forest was now conveniently laid out on a map I could access from my suit's internal computer. I eagerly opened up the program, trembling with anticipation. I cackled victoriously as my eyes scanned the map before me; there were six other pieces within a ten-mile radius of the Dolphin, a flashing pulse emanating from each one's position. Certainly enough to keep me busy.

My face smile widely and involuntarily; my salvation was all laid out before me, and all I had to do was make a short trek to each one! My path had never been more clear, my shoulders never so relieved. I was practically already home!

Before I was too raveled up in excitement, I quickly refocused on the task ahead. It was past noon, almost evening, and I could not afford to work in the treachery of the night. Spotty bulborbs were far too dangerous, even when asleep.

According to the radar, the next closest piece was further into the muddy gorge I found the radar dish in. I immediately wandered off towards the location. Passing by the charred crater, I glanced towards the center where that peculiar glow came from. My jaw fell, as nestling cozily in the ground was a red pikmin sprout, its tiny leaf waving slowly at me. I approached cautiously, terrible memories still fresh in my brain came rushing forward. I plucked it tenderly, and a bright red pikmin eagerly joined our ranks with an excited whoop.

Did he survive the attack? My thoughts raced, Did the beasts ignore him? An interesting hypothesis presented itself; perhaps pikmin, upon death, leave behind the necessary nutrients to help propagate more pikmin. Did he simply spring forth from the blood of his fallen comrades?

Either way, he still possessed the same chipper attitude of all the other troops, so he would be welcome in my ranks. I would need every pair of tiny plant-hands I could get ahold of.

We marched forward again, past the yellow onion and into the gully. I hiked with my fleet-footed army tailing me swiftly. At the end, the gorge split in two: one path that went through some thick, short shrubbery, and another that went a short distance before being cut off by a tall, solid stone wall. With a glance at my radar, it showed that the piece to the Dolphin was right behind it! I inspected the barrier, and surely enough it was as sturdy as bedrock. No way could any group of pikmin possibly tear down the beastly thing. Blast!

I considered tossing up the yellows, but they couldn't make such a leap, and nor could they get back, if they did happen to cross. They'd be trapped, and I'd be without the ship part _and_ a brigade of indispensable troops.

I decided to leave through the other path. It was littered with tiny, three-leafed stalks that were barely twice my height. (They were only small standing next to the skyscraper-sized trees that encircled the forest.)

A golden light enveloped the forest floor through the tangled boughs of the trees far above our heads. Tall flowers and ferns wafted in the pleasant breeze that swept the ground. My suits thermal regulators kept my body comfortable, but through my suits helmet, I could imagine the cool, earthly smell of the wind as it danced elegantly. I could imagine the taste of fresh air, even when I knew it would kill me; one can only take the taste of artificial air for so long.

I remembered an outing I had with my wife: a picnic atop a hill, the stars stretching out all around our heads. I recited all of the constellations I had spent ages memorizing, the location of far and distant planets. I had promised to take her to any one of them, to show her the universe. I could recall the twinkling in her eyes as she stared in awe at them all; I could see all the stars in the sky in the reflection of her eyes. Oh, what joy she would have visiting this vibrant world, so beautiful, yet so dangerous. Not unlike her… I could picture perfectly the look on her face if she had heard that.

The pikmin followed behind with the greatest intent. All semblance of order vanished once a nearby boulder stood up and skittered off. At first I jumped, but then observed as the iridescent creature scampered about, two antennae twitching madly. Before I could react, however, my entire battalion rushed ahead of me without any orders and furiously surrounded the beetle. At first, it seemed rather inattentive and indifferent as the fifty-so soldiers hit its shell futilely, their blows bouncing off like they were beating a rubber ball. When it noticed the livid army at its rear, It skittered off a short distance, plowing over any pikmin in its way harmlessly. They rose back up and chased the thing straight out of the brush.

Frantically, I pursued the large beetle right out into the open, where it nonchalantly probed the ground for whatever reason. Interestingly, the large bug was completely indifferent to the pikmin; they might as well have not been there at all. I might have simply watched as the comedic scene unfolded, but we had work to do!

I whistled in an attempt to gather their attention. To my surprise, the pikmin paid me no heed! They kept bashing away at the indestructible beast. I bristled and called them, but with much more sternness. Many heads turned to face me, but they tentatively returned to their prey. Irked at what felt like insubordination, I blew the instrument with a great lung-full of breath. The shrill cry echoed loudly, and instantly all eyes were on me. Even the iridescent beetle seemed to glance at me.

I motioned to the army to fall back behind me sternly and they promptly obeyed. It would seem that both the pikmin, and myself, would need more discipline before we could continue this comedic escapade.

The beetle quickly scuttled away, my pikmin all eyed it desperately. When it vanished back behind the brush, we proceeded with our search.

The sun was teasingly close to the west horizon, rays stretching like ethereal arms through the forest canopy. The valleys and hills that etched through the meadow cast shadows that swallowed up my troops and I. We kept on through this one ravine that happened to be on the other side of the stone wall that blocked off our encampment. Pellet posies slowly retreated back into the earth, their faces having followed the sun; with it gone, they retired, their petals enclosing their crystalline pellets.

As we marched, we passed through another patch of those three-leaved sprouts. As we rustled the leaves, I heard a squeaky cry above our heads. I glanced up and, far above my head, beheld the most enchanting sight: thin, ghastly clouds drifted against the wind. Their heads had what resembled faces that yawned and moaned drowsily, and hanging from their wispy tails were small globules of nectar. They gloated gently, like phantoms, their transparent bodies shimmering lavender and pink. There was three of them, all headed up-wind, their golden bounty trembling.

In my army, I had several leaves that kept the pace of our march a tad slower than I'd prefer. I grasped a yellow by his stem, arched my arm back, and tossed him far up. He practically flew, as the wind caught his ears and let him soar high up. He collided with the wisp and knocked free the honey. The other wisps, frightened by the attack, seemingly vanished into thin air, just as mysteriously as they had appeared.

The nectar landed in a thick bubble on the ground, and I motioned the leaves through the substance. Unfortunately, we had prepared to move just in time for sunset, the twilight now a shade of dark red. With no time to dawdle, we quickly made the round trip back to our encampment. I ushered the pikmin into their onions as a great shadow descended on the forest floor. My feet moved quickly and quietly; a whole new paranoia enveloped me in the dark, ever since yesterday's night. I revved up the engines and quickly lifted off with a single hesitation.

The Dolphin unsteadily climbed through the atmosphere, shaking and rearing, given her condition. In retrospect, I must have been mad to board that thing every night for hours at a time. Past the clouds and above the forest, I could see for hundreds of miles this high in the sky. This planet's surface was so vibrant and colorful. Shades of green and blue blended like some massive, surreal orb of paint. There were wide valleys, dense forests, sprawling oceans, and… Was that a belly button?

Clearly, I needed some rest. All of today's stress showed up at once, especially in my lower lumbar. My joints creaked, and my stomach growled unpleasantly. My body felt like it was stuffed with bricks of lead. Both my seat and my built-in massage machine were among the missing parts, so I certainly wasn't sleeping in the cockpit. I hastily recorded today's events, more interested in a night's rest than documentaries, and inhaled some space-faring rations. They tasted as dreadful as they sounded. I curled up with my quilt in the hallway, mumbling the names of constellations as my eyelids fell heavily.


End file.
